DENVER — Marcus Johansson and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had a goal and an assist, Jay Beagle and John Carlson also scored and the Washington Capitals kept rolling with a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.
The Capitals have 110 points, five ahead of idle Columbus, and are on track to clinch the President’s Trophy for most points in the league for the second straight season. They’ve won six straight games.
Alex Ovechkin didn’t record a point and remained tied with Alexander Mogilny for second place in scoring among Russian-born players in the NHL. Both have 1,032 points, trailing Sergei Fedorov (1,179).
Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists and Philipp Grubauer stopped 32 shots in his first start in nine games for the Capitals. Lars Eller scored into an empty net.
Washington took a 4-1 lead for the second time in two nights, both wins. Goals by Beagle, Johansson and Kuznetsov gave the Capitals the three-goal advantage, but Colorado chipped away.
Matt Nieto scored late in the second period and Nathan MacKinnon’s 16th goal at 4:29 of the third made it 4-3. MacKinnon also had an assist, and Calvin Pickard made 30 saves for Colorado, which has lost seven straight.
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